A New Life
by mspris
Summary: On the way home from meeting with friends Orihime finds herself required to care for a special child. How will she handle this new responsibility? Eventually slight ichihime.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** A New Life

**Summary:** This takes place after Chapter 419 but Final Getsuga Tenshou was not used and Ichigo still has his powers. On the way home from meeting with friends Orihime finds herself required to care for a special child. What will she do when his powers awaken? How will this effect the life she had planned for herself? What about love, will she even have time for it?

**A/N:** So this is my very first fanfic. I'm pretty excited, the first few chapters are just the set up. I really hope you enjoy and love it! Please review and tell me how I"m doing. No flaming though, or else I might cry... well probably not... but if it's not helpful than it's of no use to me.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own bleach, if I did I would probably screw it up. All rights are Tite Kubo, who is awesome.

As the day came to an end, the warmth continued into the evening. Now mid-July, the weather had been pleasant, as the sky was clear and a constant breeze kept the air from being uncomfortable. In the final moments of light as the night was falling, Ichigo was accompanying Orihime home after an evening out with friends.

"Thank you for walking me home, Kurosaki-kun. You didn't have to though; I could have made it on my own," Orihime said while looking down at her clasped hands in front of her.

While rubbing the back of his neck Ichigo replied, "It's no big deal, plus if I didn't Tatsuki would get pissed and probably break a bone or two."

"Well if she did I could just heal you up again" Orihime laughed

"Although that's true, I'd rather not break them in the first place." Ichigo replied with a smirk.

"I'm glad we all got together tonight for karaoke and dinner. It's too bad we're not all going to be in town during summer holiday." Orihime smiled contently.

Ichigo and Orihime had become closer after the war ended nine months ago. Although nothing romantic had developed thus far, their friendship had strengthened considerably. Now with summer break they were finally able to relax and enjoy the peace.

"Yeah I know what you mean, though I'm glad Chad's getting the chance to go home and visit his relatives."

"Yeah I know but, I hope he has a safe trip and no aliens try to hijack the airplane he's on. Because then Sado-kun would have to jump off the airplane and swim to shore and Mexico is so far away, so he would get tired and stop to take a rest on a deserted island, but the island wouldn't really be deserted. It would be filled with gorillas, and then…"

Before she could continue Ichigo cut her off, "Oi Inoue! I'm sure Chad's flight will be fine and plus he could handle a bunch of gorillas." He finished with a hint of a smile on his lips, "Anyway, are you going to hold up okay with Tatsuki being gone all summer training?"

"Yep, I have my job at the bakery. I just got a promotion too! Instead of just working the cash register, I'm going to be designing some of the smaller cakes. I'll be starting Monday morning." She said with excitement shining in her eyes.

"Heh, I always knew you were a hard worker." He said while staring straight.

Orihime noticed the slight tint to his cheeks which ignited her own, "Thank you Kurosaki-kun, for the next two weeks I'll be working mornings so that I can train with the head baker but then I'll go back to regular day shifts. I'm just glad they gave me the weekend off so I can rest up before beginning the new shift. Y-you should come by and try one of the cakes, Ishida-kun said that he'd stop the bakery after work maybe you could come with him."

Ichigo grimaced at the thought of having to go anywhere with Ishida alone. "Nah, that's alright I'll come on my own. It's hard to believe that when Ishida's dad suggested him interning at the hospital he actually accepted."

Orihime giggled and they lapsed into a comfortable silence as they continued their walk to her apartment.

They had only walked a few short blocks before they felt the familiar reiatsu of a hollow. Exchanging knowing glances, they quickly took off towards the threat. As they approached, Orihime let out a gasp as they saw an old woman fall to the ground. A hollow with wings covered in razors floated above her. Upon noticing them, it flew up higher and let out a hollow's dark roar.

Ichigo moved to the side of a dumpster and slammed his badge to his chest, his body crumpling to the ground. He then turned to Orihime, "Inoue, see what you can do for the old woman. I'm going to take care of the hollow," he drew his sword as Orihime nodded and he leapt into the sky.

As Orihime rushed to the victim her shield automatically encased her body in a warm glow. "Obaa-san, I'm here to help you! Are you hurt? Can you hear me?" Orihime called out, but to no avail.

Reaching the poor woman's side, Orihime continued calling out, sadly receiving no response. As the light from _Sōten Kisshun _faded, she heard a gasp from behind her, and as Orihime turned she saw a new glow as the woman she was trying to heal now stood behind her with a broken chain in her chest.

Orihime decided that the old woman was probably scared "Obaa-san, my name is Inoue Orihime, when the man fighting up there finishes he'll help you go to heaven."

Still there was no response from the woman, "You don't have to worry it's a nice place and you get to meet lots of new people it'll be really fun!" The old lady stayed silent and continued to study her. After what felt like hours, but in reality was mere seconds a determined look came over the woman's face.

"Hello Inoue-san, my name is Asako and I'm what you call a _Miko_. I can not leave here yet."

Orihime wanted to interrupt and ask why but she thought better to just let her finish. Asako continued "The reason I am here so late at night is because that monster had come to my home. I had to lead it here far away from my grandson, Akiyoshi, who is still at home sleeping. Although he is my grandson his eyes have yet to awaken to the ability to see these monsters or the souls that are wondering the world. Akiyoshi is my only family left and I can not bear the thought of leaving him alone. His parents died long ago when he was just an infant. I have always kept him hidden away because although he is a boy and can not become a _Miko_ I can sense a great power dwelling within him. Orihime-san, although we have just met I feel that you are the one that must watch over him. Please take care and protect my grandson."

Orihime's eyes had grown round and her mind was working hard to be able to understand everything Asako was saying. She finally noticed that Asako was staring at her with expectant eyes. Although Orihime wanted to help and her heart went to the child she knew she had to voice her concerns, "Asako-san, I understand how you feel but I don't know if I can do it. I'm just a mere high school student and have no clue on how to raise a small child. What if I mess up or what if he doesn't trust me or…"

"Orihime-san, I understand that you are scared, but I believe it is fate that you are the one who found me. I can tell that you are a person with a great heart. Akiyoshi is all alone, no one even knows of his existence. Please, I beg of you, I can not rest unless I ensure his safety and happiness," with this Asako got down on her knees with her face to the floor.

Orihime was shocked as well as embarrassed, "A-A-Asako-san please stand up! I will try to do the best that I can. I accept the responsibility."

Asako then stood and smiled, "Thank you, you will find my small home at the edge of town. There is a path that leads into the woods. Follow the path and you will see the house. One more thing, keep Akiyoshi's existence a secret, at least until his powers awaken. Although he can not sense the ghost or monsters he needs to be protected for some reason they keep showing up, almost as if they know where to find him."

Orihime quickly agreed but then remembered something really important, "Asako-san, how will Akiyoshi know to trust me? I've never even met him before."

"That will be simple," she pointed to her body and continued, "Go and take the beads from my wrist. If you place them on Akiyoshi's then he will understand and know to trust you."

Nodding, Orihime bent down and took the woman's wrist in her hand. As she looked up at Asako with sad eyes she gently removed the beads. After doing this Orihime placed the hand over where her heart would be had it still been beating. Placing the beads in her pocket she stood up.

Ichigo had finally finished the hollow off and returned to Orihime who had just finished her conversation with Asako.

Orihime turned to Ichigo with a sad smile, "Kurosaki-kun, I was too late to save her; her chain was already severed. I already explained to Asako-san about the soul burial and she's ready."

Ichigo's eyes went from shocked to sad to understanding. He then turned to Asako, "Are you ready?"

Asako nodded to him, "Thank you for taking care of that monster. Yes, I am ready," she gave a small knowing smile to Orihime and finished, "Thank you for everything."

With this she closed her eyes and felt the small bump of the hilt of Ichigo's sword. Ichigo and Orihime stood their while they watched her fade away.

Slowly they turned, and after retrieving Ichigo's body, continued their walk home. However the happy mood from earlier was now gone and replaced by a solemn silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Even though they knew Asako was resting peacefully in Soul Society, it was still a death. Orihime was also concerned on how to get to Akiyoshi without telling Ichigo since she wasn't supposed to let anyone know. Finally she decided to just let Ichigo take her home and then head back out.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ichigo mumbling, "Hey it looks like we're here. Have a good night, Inoue. I'll see ya around."

Orihime lifted her eyes to his and noticed the sorrowed look in his eyes, while unlocking her door she asked "Are you going to be okay Kurosaki-kun? I know this is part of the job and Asako-san is now at peace. But if you want to talk about it…did you want to come in for some tea?"

Although Orihime was anxious to get Akiyoshi, she knew the boy was still asleep. Meanwhile, Ichigo seemed to need some encouragement. However, Ichigo realized he was worrying his friend and shook off his funk, "Nah, I better get home. It's pretty late and I got work in the morning. Plus you need to get some sleep too."

Orihime nodded and gave him a sweet smile to which he returned with a smirk of his own. Turning around and waving he called over his shoulder "Don't forget to lock your door."

She smiled at his concern, "Alright I will. And thank you for walking me home Kurosaki-kun."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Being that this is me first fanfic, I'm going to say that I feel like I'm at the begining of a new adventure, I love new things and want to see how far I can go with writing. Anyway enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own bleach, if I did I would probably screw it up. All rights are Tite Kubo, who is awesome.

After going inside and grabbing a couple of bags to pack Akiyoshi's belongings in she left her apartment. Once back on the street she followed the directions that Asako gave her. It only took her fifteen minutes to get to the edge of town and another ten to find the path. After following the path she found the small house. She quietly opened the door and whispered "Ojamashimasu."

Removing her shoes she walked to where she thought the bedroom would be. The first door she opened was the bathroom, and at the end of the hall she found the bedroom.

She opened the door and whispered, "Akiyoshi-kun, are you in here? Akiyoshi-kun?" Then she saw a small lump on a futon in the corner. She quietly stepped over and observed the child while he was sleeping. From what she could tell he looked like a sweet innocent boy no more than four or five years old with jet black hair. Orihime began to dread the task of telling him about his grandmother; however she had promised to take care of him and was determined to do so.

Kneeling down beside him she began to gently shake him awake. "Akiyoshi-kun, Akiyoshi-kun I need you to wake up."

The little boy slowly opened his eyes and began to sit up. While rubbing his eyes he drew his feet underneath himself and looked at Orihime. He was beginning to wonder if he was still dreaming because there seemed to be a beautiful princess sitting in from of him. He then decided to check if she was indeed real. He reached out and touched her hair. Orihime blushed at the contact but didn't move. Once Akiyoshi realized she was in fact real he began to worry. He knew that granny didn't like for other people to see him. But he also couldn't figure out how the princess knew his name or why she was looking at him with such sad eyes.

Orihime didn't know how to tell him about Asako no longer being in this world so instead she just reached into her pocket and pulled out the beaded bracelet. When Akiyoshi saw it his gray eyes became huge saucers but he said nothing.

Orihime quietly whispered "I'm sorry" as she reached for his hand.

He didn't resist just watched as she slid the beads onto his wrist. Once this was done his eyes began to fill with unshed tears. Orihime's eyes began to do the same and she did the only thing she could think of, opening her arms wide. Without any other invitation Akiyoshi leaped into her arms and began sobbing. Barely keeping her balance, Orihime began rubbing soothing circles on his back while rocking him back and forth. "It'll be okay, Akiyoshi-kun, I promised your Obaa-san that I'd take care of you and I will."

After a half hour the sobs began to turn to sniffles and Akiyoshi started to stir in Orihime's arms.

Akiyoshi leaned back and looked up to Orihime and in a little voice asked, "What am I gonna do now? I know that Baa-chan said that if someone came with her beads and put them on my wrist that it meant she was in heaven and I should trust them but what do I do now?"

Orihime realized then that even though he knew to trust her he had no clue what that really meant.

So very slowly she began, "Akiyoshi-kun, my name is Orihime, Baa-chan asked me to look after you, so how would you like to come live with me? It'll be just the two of us and we'll have lots of fun together. I know Baa-chan would be really happy if you did." Akiyoshi wasn't quite sure what else he could do and Orihime was so nice and he liked the idea of living with a princess. "O-Okay, but what about all my stuff? Do you want to live here instead, princess?"

With a slightly pink tint to her cheeks Orihime realized that this child was more innocent then most children his age, being that he'd only known his grandmother.

"How about we take your stuff with us to my home? I brought some bags with me so we can make sure and take all your toys and stuffed animals. You'll have plenty of room to play. I'm not a princess but thank you for the compliment."

Akiyoshi nodded, skeptical about believing that she wasn't a princess and stated plainly "Well you look like a princess to me. I'll start getting my stuff."

He then jumped up from her lap to begin gathering his things.

Initially surprised at how quickly the child recovered, Orihime then remembered that with his being so young the reality of loss had only partially set in. Getting up she grabbed her bags and began to place the items in the bag that he brought her. Looking up she noticed two pictures sitting on the dresser. One was of Asako and Akiyoshi sitting under a tree and the other was of Asako alone with a sweet smile on her face. She walked over and packed them both knowing that Akiyoshi would want them.

Turning towards the child Orihime asked "Akiyoshi-kun, do you have everything?" Akiyoshi answered with a nod of his head.

"Okay well I'm going to double check to make sure, okay? I don't want you to forget anything that you might miss later" she said with a small smile.

In reality Orihime knew that she had to make sure there was nothing left since they were not returning and Asako didn't want anyone to know of Akiyoshi. After gathering a few more items they left the house. When they left there was indeed no trace of a child ever living there.

The walk back to her apartment was a lot quicker than the walk to the house, taking only fifteen minutes, which was good since Orihime was carrying most of the bags. Akiyoshi was tired but still curious of his surroundings. He was surprised that her apartment was so large compared to the small house that he had shared with his grandmother. After walking through each room he returned to Orihime, who was standing in the living room with his bags.

She smiled at him as he finished his inspection. "Well, how do you like it?"

Akiyoshi smiled at her, "It's larger than Baa-chan's house. It's nice, princess."

Orihime then picked up his bags and walked to the spare bedroom. Akiyoshi followed her curiously.

With a sigh of relief Orihime set his belongings down, "This will be your room. I know there's some stuff in here right now but we can move things around tomorrow and make it the perfect room for a little boy."

Akiyoshi looked at the room and then back at Orihime with a bit of surprise, "My own room? You mean I get my very own room?"

Orihime smiled and said, "Yes, and you can decorate it however you want to."

But instead of his eyes showing happiness as Orihime expected, they showed something more like concern.

With hesitation in his voice he asked "Does this mean that you'll be sleeping in a different room and I'll be in here by myself?"

Orihime saw the uncertainty and fear in the child's eyes. Thinking back she remembered when she had felt the same way. Her brother, Sora, had died when she was just nine and just like Akiyoshi she lost the only real family she had. She could still remember the feelings of loneliness and panic she felt during the night when there was no one there. Shortly after she met Tatsuki and things began to change. But those feelings were ones she would never wish on any child, especially not a child that she was going to be looking after from now on.

So instead of saying yes she said "Well actually I'm really happy that you asked that Akiyoshi-kun because to be honest I was hoping you could use this room as your bedroom to play in and we could have slumber parties at night! So if you like that idea we can set up your futon in my room."

Akiyoshi wasn't quite sure what a slumber party was but like the idea of sleeping in the same room as the princess. "Okay if you want to princess then we can do that."

With that said Orihime bent down and carefully rummaged through the bags, finding the portrait of Asako. After pulling it out of the bag she took Akiyoshi's hand and led him back to the living room, over to a _kamidana_ against the wall.

Quietly she began, "Akiyoshi-kun the man in the picture is my brother Sora, he died when I was nine," she gestured to a portrait atop the shrine, "He was a good man and took very good care of me. I loved him dearly. I'm sure he wouldn't mind some company so if you like we can place Baa-chan's picture beside his?"

Orihime watched as Akiyoshi took the picture in his hands and with sad eyes and a brave smile placed it next to Sora's. Then to Orihime's surprise he knelt down and clapped twice and began to pray silently. Orihime followed suit with a quick prayer of her own, _Please Nii-chan watch over Akiyoshi-kun and I. Help me to raise him as well as you did me..._ Once she finished her prayer she looked over to Akiyoshi and waited for him to finish then they stood and headed to the Orihime's room.

After setting up the futons, Orihime tucked Akiyoshi in and began to walk back out of the room. "Wait, princess where are you going?"

Orihime smiled down at him "There are a few things I wanted to do before going to sleep. Would you like a glass of water before bed?"

"No thank you, but if it's not too much trouble do you think you could sing me a lullaby?" Akiyoshi's cheeks were bright red, although it didn't stop him from asking.

Orihime turned slightly pink herself but then sat down making herself comfortable and then began:

_Kirakira hikaru, osora no hoshi yo  
>Mabataki shite wa Minna o miteru<br>Kirakira no hoshi yo. _

After repeating it a few times Akiyoshi was fast asleep; Orihime left the room and quietly closed the door. Walking back into Akiyoshi's room she began placing his toys in the small chest that she had kept her sewing material in. Once she finished she realized that the events of the night were catching up to her and morning would be coming shortly. Dragging her feet she headed to the bathroom to scrub her face and brush her teeth. She then returned to the bedroom and crawled into her futon. Closing her eyes and beginning to drift off to sleep she realized how much her life had changed within the blink of an eye. She had yet to figure out how to do it, but she had given her promise, and she never breaks a promise.

_Orihime needed to raise a child._

**Japanese - English:**

_Ojamashimasu – Literally means "I will disturb you" it's used as a polite greeting when entering someone's home._

_ Obaa-san – grandmother_

_ Baa-chan – similar to English's "Grannie"_

_ Kamidana – miniature Shinto shrine _

_ Nii-chan – older brother_

_ The lullaby is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"_

**A/N: **

Okay that's it! Please review, I want to know what everyone thinks! Thanks again for all the favorites, and alerts it made me very happy!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the Favs and Alerts it makes me happy that people are checking up on this story. Sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter. I was having a hard time deciding where to end ch 3 and start ch 4... Anyway I hope you like it!**

It happened shortly after three in the morning, something woke Orihime. She wasn't sure what woke her but then she heard it, a small whimper, barely audible, and then a louder one. Looking over she realized that Akiyoshi was shaking slightly. Scooting closer to him she noticed he was still sleeping. There was a dampness on his cheeks which meant he must have been having a nightmare. She wasn't sure what to do since she knew you weren't suppose to wake people from nightmares but after Akiyoshi let out another whimper she decided to anyway.

"Akiyoshi-kun, I need you to wake up." She continued to shake his shoulder, "Hey please wake up."

His body suddenly stirred, he opened his eyes, "Princess? What's wrong?"

Orihime smiled softly at him, "You looked like you were having a bad dream so I thought it might be best to wake you."

The memories of the nightmare came back to him and he nodded slowly. "I was having a scary dream."

"Do you want to tell me about it? Sometimes talking about them makes them less scary."

"Well I don't remember all of it, just the scary part." Sitting up and snuggling close to Orihime, he continued, "I was running in the woods and something was chasing me. I couldn't see it but I could hear it roar really loudly." With this Akiyoshi stood up and roared like the monster from his dream. "I kept running and it kept chasing me, every once in awhile it would roar or tell me it was going to eat me!" With this his eyes got big as he looked down at Orihime.

It made Orihime uneasy with how much this monster sounded like a hollow and she began to wonder if his powers were going to awaken sooner than later. She wasn't sure how things were going to work for him since she gained her ability to see hollows and ghosts on that fateful night when Ichigo saved her from her brother.

Wanting to comfort the boy she said, "Well you don't have to worry because I'm here with you and I'll keep you safe! If that ever happened I'd show up with flashlights and then it wouldn't be dark anymore and we could use the lights as swords and defeat that scary roaring bad thing." With this Orihime had jumped up and pretended to wield a sword like she was defeating bad guys.

Akiyoshi began to giggle, and so Orihime's smiled mischievously, stopping her imaginary sword fight to tickle him.

After his fits of laughter died down she looked at him seriously, "Akiyoshi-kun, remember I'm here for you now. I won't let any scary monsters harm you and I'll take care of you always, okay?"

With a smile on his face he answered, "Yes, I understand Princess. I believe in you."

Orihime, being touched at the amount of faith this child was putting in her, couldn't help herself as she squealed and wrapped him in a big hug. To which Akiyoshi accepted and started giggling again.

"Now, we should really get back to sleep," Orihime said releasing him from her hold.

But instead of climbing back in his own futon Akiyoshi snuggled into Orihime's. Orihime just smiled and climbed in with him and cuddled him up and they drifted off to sleep.

As the next morning came Orihime began to stir, when all of a sudden she had the wind knocked out of her. Gasping she opened her brown eyes wide what she saw were big gray ones staring back at her.

Akiyoshi was sitting on top of her with a big smile on his face, "Good morning Princess!"

She smiled back and tried to sit up to no avail. Finally she said, "Good morning Akiyoshi-kun, would you mind getting off of me so that I can get up?"

Not realizing he had knocked the wind out of Orihime, he jumped up, "Okay Princess! So what are we going to play today?" with that question his stomach gurgled.

Orihime laughed and said, "How about we put up our futons, get dressed, and then eat breakfast while we decide?"

"Okay!" with that said Akiyoshi began folding the blankets while Orihime put the futons in the closet.

With that done Orihime took Akiyoshi into the living room and put on some cartoons for him to watch. He was fascinated by them, cartoons were a new thing for him as the only shows that he and Baa-chan watched were old time endo period dramas. While he was busy watching the shows, Orihime headed into the kitchen to make breakfast.

Breakfast was a big deal for Orihime who felt that meal times were the most important times of the day. Since she didn't know exactly what Akiyoshi would like she decided to make a simple traditional breakfast including miso soup and steamed rice with a variety of side dishes. Once everything was ready and situated on the table she called Akiyoshi over to eat.

"Wow, everything looks yummy!" Akiyoshi said.

"Thank you! I wasn't sure what you liked so I tried to make a little of everything." She replied with a huge smile. "There is natto, tamagoyaki, umeboshi, and nori, as well as the steamed rice and miso soup. Oh, and I also have some red bean paste, wasabi, cheese and butter for toppings!"

With a huge grin Akiyoshi said, "Itadaki-masu."

Orihime smiled back and repeated "Itadaki-masu."

With this said Orihime began to slather red bean paste on the majority of her breakfast as well as mix butter and cheese in her soup. Akiyoshi watched her with rapid fascination; once she dug in and didn't die he decided to try it also. Taking some of the red bean paste he covered only part of his breakfast, just in case he didn't like it, and took a bite. His eyes lit up at how delicious it tasted, which made Orihime laugh.

"Isn't it great! I keep trying to get my friends to try it but they won't!" she said with a pout.

"I think it's really super! I never even thought of trying to do that before." Akiyoshi said and took another bite.

"I'm really glad you like it, we should have something extra delicious for dinner tonight!" Orihime said excitedly, "Maybe when we go out later we can pick up some ingredients and you can help me in the kitchen?"

"Really, you'll let me help? It's going to be so much fun." With this he quickly finished his breakfast, "Gochisou-sama."

She laughed and quickly finished her own breakfast. "Gochisou-sama."

"Can we go shopping now, Princess?" He could barely contain his excitement, "I haven't been shopping before, and this is going to be so cool."

"Hold on a second, before we go shopping we need to know what we need to buy. I think we're going to need some stuff for your bedroom too. So we need to finish your room first. How about we make a list of everything we need to buy and then make an afternoon of it?" Orihime asked.

"Okay, what should we do first?" he replied with a small sigh.

She smiled as she responded, "Well first let's get the rest of your things put away, and then we'll know what we still need. We can look around at a few different stores. We may not buy anything today, but it would be nice to see what you like. Let's pack a lunch and we can go to a park I wanted to show you. After that we'll stop at the grocery store on the way home."

"So first I have to clean my room?" Akiyoshi said while wrinkling his nose. He held up his hand and extended his index finger and began counting, "Then go shopping. To the park. And the grocery store," he noticed he had opened his whole hand and frowned. Tapping his fingers with his other, he closed his thumb and said, "Four things!"

"Yep, that sounds right. I'll help you with your room so let's get started." Orihime said.

The bedroom took even less time then she thought to clean. Before Akiyoshi's arrival, Orihime didn't keep much in the room; only her sewing items and a few loose odds and ends. She simply scooped them all into a bin and moved it to her own bedroom to arrange later. Examining the now mostly bare room, she contemplated what the boy would need. It was clear Akiyoshi didn't need much in the way of furniture; just a dresser for his clothing and a bookshelf to house his puzzles and books. She figured that with her savings and new promotion she would be able to afford the items comfortably.

After finishing the bedroom they packed the bentos, made the grocery list, and headed out. First they stopped by a few furniture stores until they came across exactly what they were looking for. It was a child's furniture set that came with a small dresser, a bookshelf, and a toy chest. The set was light brown and even though they didn't need a toy chest it was a nice bonus. Since the price was good Orihime went ahead a purchased it and scheduled to have it delivered on Monday afternoon. With that done they happily headed to the park.

Orihime had another agenda for going to the particular park that they were headed to. This park was located across the street from the bakery that she worked at. She wanted to make sure she would be able to see Akiyoshi from there while she worked. Currently she didn't have anyone to watch him so she figured she'd let him play in the park until she got off work. After they found a nice spot under a tree they sat down to rest and have their lunch.

"Yoshi-kun, do you see that bakery across the street?" Orihime asked, while setting out the bento boxes they had brought from home.

Looking up at the new nickname she gave, he smiled big, "Is it the one with the cakes in the windows?"

"Yep that's the one," realizing that she shortened his name she continued, "Ah I'm sorry! I should have asked if it was okay for me to call you Yoshi-kun. It just seemed to fit you and it is part of your name so I didn't think you would mind." She replied with a bright face.

"No don't say sorry Princess I really like it and you let me call you Princess so it's fair right!" with this said Akiyoshi looked up at her happily.

She laughed, "Okay then Yoshi-kun it is! Anyway what I wanted to talk to you about was that starting Monday I have to work across the street at that bakery."

"Okay, do I go with you?" He asked curiously.

"Well, sort of, today's Saturday, so we still have tomorrow, and then it's Monday. I was thinking that while I work you could come here and play. I'll come have lunch with you during my break."

"Um, well okay as long as you come during lunch." Akiyoshi responded.

Orihime could tell that Akiyoshi wasn't too keen on the idea but she didn't really have another choice. So with that said she sent him off to play. Akiyoshi ran off towards the other children who were there playing. Orihime settled back against the tree so that she could relax. It wasn't long before thoughts of her current situation began to invade her mind. Although she really liked Akiyoshi she was still apprehensive about raising him. She didn't really know much about being a single parent, the only references she had were what she could remember about Sora and Kurosaki-san. Sora had had always been kind even when he needed to discipline her but her memories ended when she was nine so they were a little foggy. Then there was Kurosaki-san who was also a single parent, but she didn't know all that much about his relationship with his children, mostly just that he liked to wake Ichigo up by kicking him and constantly planned sneak attacks on him. She was pretty sure she didn't want to wake Akiyoshi that way and that he was too young for sneak attacks. With a sigh Orihime opened her eyes, looking around she found Akiyoshi playing tag with a couple of kids. It made her smile to hear him laughing and having fun. Seeing this eased her heart, although she was nervous she still felt like she made the right decision. Akiyoshi noticed her looking and gave her a wave; she gave a wave back of her own. After another twenty minutes she noticed that the children began to disperse back to their parents. She, herself, realized that they should probably be on their way soon so she began to clean up their lunch. Once this was done she glanced up and noticed that Akiyoshi was standing next to a little girl about his age talking and laughing with her.

The smile slowly fell from Orihime's face when she noticed the chain dangling from the little girl's chest. She had thought she would have more time before Akiyoshi would be able to see ghosts; she was honestly hoping for a couple of years so they could get used to living together first. Orihime noticed that Akiyoshi was looking at her a bit concerned, so she quickly put a smile back on her face and beckoned him to come back to her. He smiled in return and began to run towards her.

"Did you have fun Yoshi-kun?" Orihime asked once he was close enough.

"Yep! I made lots of friends. I can't remember all their names but they said that they come here a lot to play." Akiyoshi said excitedly.

Orihime smiled, "Well that's great! I'm glad you made some friends. We'll come here bunches so that you can make lots and lots of friends."

With this statement she was rewarded with a huge smile and a big hug.

"Yoshi-kun, we need to get going now, we still have to stop and pick up the ingredients for dinner. When we get home I would like to talk to you about a few things also." She gave him a small smile when she noticed he was reluctant to leave.

"Alright, but can I go say bye to Hisa-chan?"

"Sure," Orihime replied.

Akiyoshi ran towards the girl he was just talking to. He knew that she was different somehow since no else talked to her but he thought that it may be that she was shy and this was her first time at the park too. So he wanted to make sure that she knew that he would be her friend but he had to go home now.

"Hisa-chan, Princess said that it's time to go home so I can't play anymore today." Akiyoshi said once he reached her side

"Okay, will you come back and play with me sometime?" Hisa-chan asked in a quiet voice that was barely audible.

"Yep, Princess says that she'll bring me here tons" Akiyoshi said with a smile

"Why do you call her Princess and not Okaa-san?" Hisa-chan asked

Akiyoshi was a bit confused but he answered, "I don't have an Okaa-san I only have Princess. I call her Princess because I think she's a princess. Anyway I have to go we can talk more next time I'm here."

With this Akiyoshi waved and began to walk back to Orihime. He was curious on what made an Okaa-san an Okaa-san and if Orhime was his Okaa-san. When Akiyoshi reached her she held out her hand to him and without a second thought he took it. He decided that he wasn't worried about the Okaa-san thing as long as he had Orihime.

**A/N: So I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Psst... You see that button below... press it! Please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ** Hey everyone! Thank you to those who haven't given up on me! I now completely understand when people say that life's gotten crazy and that's why they haven't uploaded in awhile. I really do appreciate all the alerts and favorites. They make me smile and really happy when I see them. A special thanks goes to **Dark Gothic Lolita, GothChiq80, and blood-velvet angel** for leaving reviews. I'm sorry I didn't respond individually, to be honest I'm pretty shy, just reading them made me turn red. LOL But I really do appreciate them. You guys are the reason for me to upload this Chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own bleach, if I did I would probably screw it up. All rights are Tite Kubo, who is awesome.

Although Orihime had watched Akiyoshi's conversation with Hisa-chan intently, she wasn't concerned with him talking to her since Hisa-chan seemed to have an extremely low reiatsu level. She had wanted to make sure he understood the difference between the living and spirits, but that conversation would have to wait until they were home. Right now they needed to head to the store.

They arrived at a market that was located a few blocks from the bakery Orihime worked at. Walking hand in hand they entered the store; Orihime took her list from her pocket and began read off the different items that they would need to purchase. Grabbing a basket the two began to walk through the store grabbing the different items they would need for dinner. Glancing up Orihime saw an aisle that housed small toys, movies and magazines. This gave her an idea, "Yoshi-kun, to celebrate you coming to live with me why don't you go pick out a toy from the toy section."

"Really? Can I really?" said Akiyoshi excitedly.

Leaning down so she was eye level with him she responded "Yep, it will be a welcome home present from me. You go ahead and I'm going to grab the green onions for dinner, wait there until I come back."

"Okay!" Akiyoshi exclaimed before running off down the aisle with a beaming grin.

Orihime stood up straight and headed towards the produce area. She was surprised to see a familiar tuft of orange hair. Placing a smile on her face she approached him. It looked like he was working in the fruit section putting containers of strawberries away. When she got close enough she could see the scowl on his face which, combined with the task that he was accomplishing, made her giggle.

Ichigo turned around when he heard the familiar giggle.

"Hey Inoue, how are you doing?" Ichigo asked remembering their adventure the night before.

"Hi Kurosaki-kun! I'm having a wonderful day, how is yours going?" Orihime responded

"Alright I guess, just working," he responded, as he returned to stocking the strawberries.

"I didn't know you worked at this store, I thought you were working at one closer to your house." Orihime said tilting her head inquisitively. Ichigo turned back, meeting her gaze, scratching the back of his head as he answered,

"Well… I was but me and my boss there had a difference of opinions, so here I am."

Orihime didn't say anything just quirked a brow at him.

To which Ichigo responded with a small smirk.

He really appreciated the fact that with Orihime words weren't always necessary. There were times at school that their eyes would meet and nothing needed to be said to convey what they were thinking. Sometimes the looks were as mundane as "Hey isn't this lesson boring?" or "You better stop day dreaming and pay attention before you get caught!" But sometimes the looks were filled with something he had yet to decipher; all he knew was that they made him feel special and unique.

"…saki-kun? Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime repeated.

"Eh? Oh, yeah Inoue?" Ichigo was finally brought back out of his musings.

"Kurosaki-kun you were day dreaming!" Orihime laughed

"Oi! Stop laughing I was not!" Ichigo responded, trying to hold a scowl as long as possible, but it was replaced with a smile before even setting.

After Orihime's laughter died down she continued, "Okay fine you weren't, but what I was going to say was that I have to get going. It was good seeing you."

"Yeah, I'll see you around Inoue," his smile faded, but to as much of a frown as when Orihime first saw him. He turned back to his cart of strawberries as she turned away, but then he heard her.

"Kurosaki-kun?" she called. Ichigo put down the containers he still had yet to place and replied.

"Yeah, Inoue? What's wrong?"

"I had forgot. I need some green onions."

"Oh... working on one of your special recipes I'm sure," Ichigo stated with a raised eyebrow. He pointed to a bin a row down from them, "Should be right there."

Orihime opened her mouth to respond but was drowned out by a loudspeaker,

"Meat department, call on line 1!" it exclaimed. Ichigo frowned and turned to Orihime, "Well, that's me, I have to get that."

"But I thought you were working here in the produce?" she asked, confused.

"You know how it is, everybody wants me to cover for them," he replied. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued, "I don't really care, it's more money."

"Just don't work too hard, Kurosaki-kun," she said, with a hint of demand, heading towards the bin of onions.

"Sure Inoue, see you."

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun," she said with a slight bow as he hurried off, her voice partially masked by the loudspeaker repeating the request.

Orihime walked back to the main grocery aisles after grabbing her green onions. She knew that she needed to find Akiyoshi and get out of the store before Ichigo saw the boy. It was good in a way for her to run into him because now she knew where he was. She quickly made her way back to the toy aisle. It was strange to her, even though she hadn't been away from Akiyoshi for more that a few minutes and had only known him for a day, she felt uncomfortable with him out of her sight. She found him standing in the middle of the aisle with a toy in each hand concentrating. Orihime walked up behind him and looked at the toys. It seemed he was having a hard time deciding between Gokai Red and Gokai Blue from the kids show Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. So Orihime figured why not buy both and they could play together.

"Yoshi-kun, are you having a hard time deciding?" Orihime asked

Without looking up at her and with all the seriousness of an adult he sighed, "Yeah, see Gokai Red comes with the Gokai Saber, but Gokai Blue comes with the Gokai Gun, so I'm not sure which one to get."

"Well what if we buy them both so that we can play with them together?"

Akiyoshi's head whipped around and his smile said it all.

With that Orihime and Akiyoshi walked hand in hand to the registers on the opposite end from Ichigo and quickly checked out. Once out on the sidewalk Akiyoshi let go of her hand and skipped ahead, excited to go home. Orihime on the other hand wasn't as excited as she remembered the talk that they would need to have that night after dinner.

Once home they put the groceries away together and Orihime handed Akiyoshi his new toys, "Yoshi-kun, why don't you take your toys in the living room and play while I get everything ready for dinner, okay?" The boy happily obliged with no objection.

Orihime could hear Akiyoshi playing in the other room which brought a small smile to her face. Her thoughts turned to the conversation that they would be having after dinner. She was trying to decide what to say and how to bring it up. She then thought of a story Rukia had once told her. It had been during one of their outings that Orihime had decided to ask Rukia how she explained the whole shinigami, hollow, plus thing to Ichigo. Rukia then laughed and said how she made drawings for him and when he didn't listen to her she proceeded to draw on his face. Now Orihime knew that she wouldn't draw on Akiyoshi's face but the idea of making drawings to show him the difference was a good one. With this decided she finished pulling out the needed ingredients for dinner and called Akiyoshi back into the kitchen.

"Alright we're ready to start!" Orihime said while thrusting her hand in the air.

Akiyoshi copied Orihime's stance and said "Ready to go!"

"Tonight I think we should make my very special rainbow casserole." Orihime got out a big bowl and spoon.

"Okay what to we do first?" Akiyoshi asked while washing his hands.

"Let's see… how about you crack the eggs while I cut up the sweet potatoes and green onions, after you're done with the eggs you can wash the blueberries and raspberries." Orihime reached over and patted Akiyoshi on top of his head, "Just make sure not to get any of the shell in the bowl, okay?"

Once everything was put in the bowl and mixed together, Orihime poured it into a pan and stuck it in the oven, setting the timer. Turning towards Akiyoshi she realized that they had an hour to kill so she decided to get his bath out of the way. "Hey how about you take your bath while dinner cooks?"

"Okay!" Akiyoshi said.

Orihime laughed and ushered him to the bathroom, "While the tub fills I'll get you scrubbed up and then you can play for a bit."

Once it was full she left him to play by himself while she went across the hall to work on her drawings. Orihime liked that when bathroom door was open she could see the tub from where she sat in her bedroom. With her colored pencils and papers around her, she began to draw a story to help her explain things to Akiyoshi. Once done she realized she had drawn quite a few pages and began to think that maybe she should become an artist for children's books. Smiling to herself she gathered up her art supplies and placed them back in the drawer of her desk. She then heard the timer for the oven go off, so she removed the casserole from the oven and set it on the stove.

Walking back into the bathroom she grabbed Akiyoshi's towel and helped him out of the tub. "Dinner's ready, it just needs to cool a little bit and then we can add the red bean paste as frosting."

"Okay Princess." Akiyoshi said while shaking the water out of his hair.

"Ah! Yoshi-kun don't do that, you're getting me all wet!" Orihime laughed.

This just made Akiyoshi laugh and do it again.

Once Akiyoshi was dried, dressed and dinner was finished Orihime brought out her pictures. She sat down on the couch and patted the space next to her for Akiyoshi to sit. Akiyoshi climbed up on the couch and snuggled against her side. With this done she held up her pictures so that they could both see them easily.

"Yoshi-kun, there are some things that I need to explain to you and I need you to listen carefully okay? When I'm done you can ask me any questions that you have." Orihime spoke quietly but clearly so that Akiyoshi would know how important the conversation they were getting ready to have was.

"Okay Princess, I'll listen real hard, I promise." Akiyoshi said.

Orihime then began, "In this world there are different types of people. There are Special people like Shinigamis, Quincys, Vizards, and others" Orihime held up a picture that had a girl dressed in a black kimono and holding a sword, a boy with the Quincy Cross hanging from its neck holding a bow and wearing glasses, a boy with orange hair and a big sword, a girl that had flower hair clips in her hair and a boy with armor on his arm. Orihime had drawn them all as children so that Akiyoshi would be able to relate to them. "All of these are good people. There are also what we call pluses and hollows." With this she switched the page and it showed a girl with a chain dangling from her chest on one side and a frog that had a mask cover its face and a whole in its chest on the other. "The pluses are ghost that haven't gone to heaven like they were suppose to when they died, they're good too. This is the really important part, hollows are not good. They are scary creatures that aren't nice at all. If you ever see one I want you to run away as fast as you can. Okay? Promise me, okay?" Orihime looked straight into Akiyoshi's gray eyes and waited for him to agree.

Akiyoshi seeing that Orihime was done responded "Okay Princess, I promise I'll run away as fast as I can. But can I ask you a question now?"

Orihime nodded.

Akiyoshi pointed to the picture of the ghost, "Is Hisa-chan one of these? I saw she had a chain like this one."

"Yes, she's a plus but it's okay remember pluses are good, so you can still play with her. But I want you to know that not everyone can see her, only special people can see her."

"So since I can see her, does that mean I'm special?" Akiyoshi asked.

"Yes, you are special, and it's good to be special but it means that you have to be more careful."

"But you could see her too, so does that mean you're special too?" Akiyoshi's eyes widened with this realization.

With a small smile Orihime responded, "Yes I'm special too. Later on I'll introduce you to some of my friends that are also special but for now I want to keep you all to myself!" Orihime then reached over and squeezed Akiyoshi in a big bear hug.

Akiyoshi giggled, "Okay! That sounds like fun, but I'm happy I get to stay with someone special like you."

"I'm glad that you get to stay with me too!" Orihime said with a smile, "now it's time to get you to bed, come on I'll sing you a song again."

At first Akiyoshi frowned at the idea of going to bed but perked up when he heard the part about the song. "I like when you sing you have a really pretty voice, Princess."

They then walked into the bedroom and set up the futons. Once done Akiyoshi crawled into his and Orihime sat down beside him and began to sing. At first Akiyoshi sang along with her until he began to drift off. When he was asleep Orihime pulled the covers up under his chin and quietly shut the door. She walked down the hall and decided to make some tea and take some time for herself. She set the tea kettle to boil and went to get a cup down from the cupboard when there was a knock at the door. Orihime was surprised to have someone knocking so late at night especially since she wasn't expecting anyone. Looking through the peephole she saw a familiar face and opened her door.

"Good evening, Inoue-san," Uyru was standing in her doorway holding a small bag. Without hesitation and with clear direction he continued, "I believe that there may be something we need to discuss?"

**A/N: **So what did you think? Wondering what Uyru knows? I know! I know! But I'm not telling until the next Chapter. LOL Thanks again everyone for reading! I'm not gonna beg for reviews but I will say that I love them and they keep me going! So until next time ~MsPris


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